Promoting cooperation between Vietnamese National Assembly and parliaments of Eurasian countries

NDO – Chairman of the National Assembly (NA)’s External Relations Committee, Nguyen Van Giau, granted the media an interview concerning the results of NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan’s freshly concluded trip to attend the the third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries' Parliaments (MSEAP 3) and visit Turkey from October 7 to 12.

Q: What are the significant results of the high-level Vietnamese NA delegation’s trip to MSEAP 3?

A: NA Chairwoman Ngan’s working trip clearly demonstrated Vietnam’s viewpoint of wishing to be a sincere friend and reliable partner of all countries in the world, as well as to enhance the effective cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and other countries’ parliaments in the region. MSEAP 3 recorded the largest number of participating delegations, at 35, showing the great interest of the member countries’ parliaments. The theme of the meeting, “Economic Cooperation, Environment and Sustainable Development in Eurasia,” both focused on the issues that could be immediately resolved and long-term strategic issues.

In addition to discussing the general theme, the speeches of the heads of delegations comprehensively covered the major areas of security, politics, economics, and the environment, as well as emerging issues in the Eurasian region. The member countries focused deeply on terrorism, violence, migration, and even such sensitive issues at present as trade protection and trade conflicts. Most of the comments were made in the spirit of facilitating cooperation and development in the region, thereby ensuring sustainable development and prosperity for the countries.

In her speech, NA Chairwoman Ngan emphasised the responsibilities of parliaments in encouraging governments of countries in the region to foster economic links and accelerate multilateral trade to contribute to the growth of each nation and the entire region. Hailing climate change as the cause of disasters, poverty and the risk of lagging behind, the senior Vietnamese legislator called for joint hands to overcome the impacts of climate change and strengthen support for developing countries to help enhance their self-defence capabilities against the adverse effects of climate change.

MSEAP3 issued the Antalya Joint Statement, and the Vietnamese delegation also participated in the drafting of the document. Vietnam’s contributions to the Joint Statement were strongly recognised and supported by the member countries. Particularly, the Vietnamese delegation raised a major issue that all disputes must be resolved by peaceful means and in accordance with international law, including the East Sea issue.

Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan attends the opening ceremony of the MSEAP 3 in Antalya, Turkey, on October 9 (Photo: VNA)

Q: What do you assess of the results of NA Chairwoman Ngan’s four bilateral meetings on the sidelines of MSEAP 3?

A: Most of the parliament speakers saw MSEAP as an ideal opportunity to meet their counterparts in other countries to discuss bilateral cooperation. During MSEAP 3, Vietnamese NA Chairwoman Ngan held separate meetings with Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s NA Moon Hee-sang, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the NA of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko, and Chairman of the Mazhilis (lower house) of the parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Z. Nigmatulin.

At a meeting with the Chairman of the State Duma of Russia, the two sides agreed on the establishment of the high-level Inter-parliamentary Committee of the Vietnamese NA and the State Duma of Russia, at the initiative of the Russian side, aiming to deal with the cooperation issues between the two countries, thus boosting bilateral cooperation in a more effective manner. Receiving the Speaker of the RoK’s NA, the two senior legislators agreed that with the potential, advantages and good relations between the two countries, the goal of increasing two-way trade to US$100 billion in the near future is quite feasible.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the NA of Belarus raised the issue of bringing the relations between the two countries to new heights. He invited the Vietnamese NA leader to pay an official visit to Belarus in order to organise a joint business forum between the two countries, urging the two sides to promptly sign a cooperation agreement. The Chairman of the Mazhilis (lower house) of the parliament of Kazakhstan also voiced his wish to develop Vietnam-Kazakhstan relations to new levels, while strengthening bilateral transport and seaport connections aiming to facilitate the trade of goods between the two countries.

Q: What are the results of NA Chairwoman Ngan’s official visit to Turkey?

A: During her visit to Turkey, NA Chairwoman Ngan held talks with Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Binali Yildirim and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leaders highly appreciated and considered Vietnam as an important partner of Turkey in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly voiced his wish to further enhance bilateral ties, especially the exchange of high-level delegations and parliamentary friendship groups of the two countries. Between now and the end of the year, Turkey will send a Turkey-Vietnam parliamentary friendship group on a working visit to Vietnam.

The working trip of NA Chairwoman Ngan and the high-level NA delegation to Turkey for MSEAP 3 and for an official visit to Turkey came to a successful end, clearly showing Vietnam’s standpoint of wishing to be a sincere friend and a reliable partner of countries around the world, while strengthening the effective cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and other parliaments in the region.